Here are 13 of the things that you can only really appreciate if you have an assistance dog. While some of these will sound familiar to many people especially dog owners or wheelchair users it’s more noticeable for assistance dog users.
1. Most dogs are badly behaved
While this will not be a surprise for many wheelchair users or dog owners. The difference for people with an assistance dog is that they know what a well behaved and properly socialised dog is. Assistance dogs (like other working dogs) have to be very well behaved and under control. All assistance dogs need to be properly socialised, predictable and not aggressive. This is so they can safely go everywhere with their human.
Most pet dogs are not well behaved and I’m sorry to say that in a few places the majority of dogs are vicious (in one city we visit it’s almost ⅔ of the dogs are vicious). This behaviour is made worse by the dog owners either ignoring the bad behaviour, encourage it, blaming it on other dogs for it or even being proud of the bad behaviour.
Unfortunately most assistance dogs get a attacked at least once in their working life.
2. Getting a dog to work isn’t cruel or a shame
I often get people saying “Getting a dog to work is a shame” or similar phrases.
One of the Canine Partners puppy parents Summed up how silly this by saying “Getting a dog to play is a shame” doesn’t make sense. For most of the assistance dogs their tasks are play.
No dog is forced to work and those that don’t want to or cannot work are retired to caring homes as pets.
Most dogs want company, they like to please their human and like to play. Assistance dogs can have a great life as they are with their human all the time, they get to play (doing their tasks) and make their human happy. They will also have down time like any other dog. They are kept in peak physical condition and monitored to checked that they are being cared for properly. All these thing can make an assistance dog’s life better, happier and healthier than their pet counterparts.
It should also be noted that some of the best assistance dogs would be terrible as pets as they constantly want to do things and be with their human.
3. People can’t read
Assistance dogs shouldn’t be distracted from their work and it will normally be written somewhere on their jacket or harness. Many people completely fail to read this or choose to ignore it. Telling a person not to distract the dog will often cause more trouble and they will still distract the dog. The only time people listen and may behave in a civilised manner is if there’s a non disabled trainer with you.
4. Only the dog exists
Most owners of friendly dogs will appreciate that when they are with their dog people will know the dog’s name not theirs. People will often say hello to the dog first.
This is even more noticeable for people with assistance dog as they will always have the dog with them and the dogs are much better behaved (and often very friendly).
Wheelchair users will notice it even more, as many people will not see or choose to ignore someone in a wheelchair. Having a friendly dog with them suddenly makes them more visible and socially acceptable. People will often talk to the dog rather than speak to the wheelchair user. I have often experienced people having a conversation with my assistance dog and asking her questions about me.
5. Being Questioned about the dog’s training.
As an assistance dog user you will be asked the same questions almost every time you go out. People ask the dog’s name, age, what they do and about the training.
Most of the assistance dog charities have specially bred and trained dogs that are then placed with a disabled person. The dog will normally be 18 months – 2 years old before being placed with someone.
The basic training starts when they are a small puppy with the puppy parents. The puppy parents will typically look after the dog for the first year to 15 months. The dog will then go on to advanced training where they will be assessed and taught the more advanced tasks.
There is also a few weeks of intensive training with the dog and person they are placed with, either at a specified training centre or at the person’s home.
Some assistance dog organisations will train existing pet dogs (as long as they meet certain conditions). In this case the dog owner will be responsible for the basic training and a certified trainer will then help train the dog to do the advanced tasks. Both the dog and disabled person will then be assessed many times before being approved as a registered assistance dog.
6. The tasks aren’t everything.
Each dog will be trained to do a specific set of tasks varying from guiding someone to picking up dropped items. However the dog’s tasks are only a tiny part of the what the dog does for the person they are placed with.
Much of the benefit comes from the psychological and social benefits of having the dog with them. Most of the dogs will actually add tasks to their repertoire that haven’t been explicitly taught but they have learned are useful to their human.
7. How wonderful it is to have something love you.
Dogs in general are very loving and loyal. Assistance dogs can form and extremely strong bond with their human as they together all the time.
If you’re disabled having anyone or anything that really cares about you is extremely rare and wonderful. To have any living creature that gives you unconditional love and doesn’t care about (or sometimes even notice) your impairment is amazing.
It makes an enormous difference having someone or something that isn’t going to bully, abuse or manipulate you. Unfortunately for many disabled people this is very unusual and getting increasingly rare. For some people with assistance dogs the only living creature that doesn’t try to bully, abuse or manipulate them is their dog.
Just having someone love you helps boost your confidence and makes it much easier /possible to make human friends.
8. Being turned away
Most disabled people have experienced being refused entry to places because of their disability. This is illegal but unfortunately still a common occurrence.
Having an assistance dog unfortunately can make it even more likely that a disabled person will be refused access. This is also illegal under the Equality Act 2010 as the dog has the rights of the person they are with. Many of the worst offenders are public transport, restaurants and pubs.
Most people with assistance dogs have been turned away at least once.
9. Pushchairs, shoppers and bikes are the enemy
There are certain types of people who would normally just be a minor annoyance to a non-disabled person but are a serious danger and problem to disabled people and especially those with assistance dogs.
Increasingly often bikes are ridden (illegally) on the pavement. These cyclists rarely look where they are going, are normally going faster than the pedestrians and generally have little or no control (of themselves or the bike). This would be annoying to a non-disabled person but can be lethal if you are a disabled person or a dog. This is made worse as being disabled you’re often not seen.
Shoppers are renowned for not paying attention to what they are doing. Add this to being almost invisible and low down and the chances of being walked over are huge.
There is also a specific type of person with a pushchair that is exceptionally dangerous to disabled people and assistance dogs. These are arrogant parents that don’t pay attention to anything, don’t care about anyone else but themselves and use the pushchair as form of battering ram. In some towns and cities these people are getting more common and much worse.
10. Pavement parking and other obstructions
Cars parking on the pavement is a problem for everyone (except those that park on the pavement). For a disabled person this activity is much more dangerous and when you have an assistance dog with you the problem becomes potentially deadly.
Trying to navigate around a car on the pavement while walking is an inconvenience and may require going into the road. When you have an assistance dog you will almost certainly end up in the road and drivers take much less notice of you. This means that you or the dog stand a high chance of getting run over. This has become such a problem that there have been campaigns by assistance dogs charities and disabled persons organisation to change the laws on pavement parking.
While vehicles parked on the pavement are a worst case there are also problems with other street furniture like signs, chairs and tables.
11. Fake “Service” dogs can be a real problem
Increasingly there are people buying “Service dog” jackets and claiming their pet dog is an assistance dog. This might sound harmless (to them) but it can cause serious problems to those who have properly trained assistance dogs. While in principle there is nothing wrong with an owner trained dog (some Assistance Dogs UK charities have them) most aren’t trained well enough (see point 1).
The problems start with the behaviour and training of these dogs. The registered assistance dogs have been trained to exceptionally high standards by skilled trainers, are very well-behaved and safe. They are trained to be extremely clean and kept in peak physical health.
All it takes is for one of these poorly trained “Service” dogs to seriously misbehave, attack someone or go to the toilet in a shop and registered assistance dogs will be refused access. It also increases the chance that a registered assistance dog will be attacked while doing their job.
In some cities the number of these poorly trained dogs wearing jackets outnumbers the properly trained dogs from Assistance Dogs UK registered charities.
12. Fun doing laundry
No I’m not going mad. It really can be fun doing the laundry.
You will understand if you see an assistance dog open the washing machine and love doing it. Then dragging the laundry bag to the washing machine wagging their tail all the way.
Even getting the laundry out of the washing machine is a game.
13. Your life can depend on the dog
Anyone with a registered assistance dog will know that their life can (and probably will) depend on the dog. It’s obvious for Guide dogs that are specifically trained to keep their human safe.
All types of assistance dog will have one or more tasks that can save a life. These range from alerting their human to a possible danger to raising an alarm. These are just the more obvious ways a dog can help save your life.
There are many more ways they can help save a person’s life from helping to get more support or assistance to helping with the mental health of their human (although there are no specifically trained assistance dogs for mental health in the UK). An example of being given more support is that the dog can qualify as a registered carer and a dependent therefore giving the person higher priority for support. The support provided can also be extended because of the dog being a dependent.